A theater program is the hallmark of any play, a printed guide to the event. It was initially called a poster, just like an advertising poster for a theatrical performance, and looked like a giant sheet of paper. The program contained a list of characters, actors, and a summary of the performance. It was hung in the theater foyer, as well as handed out to the audience.

The first brochure-type programs appeared in the European theater in the 18th century. Sometimes they looked like a magazine (albeit only a few pages long) that not only described the current event but also promoted the next planned performances and even included occasional advertisements for theater sponsors and their merchandise that had nothing in common with fine arts.

In 19th-century Russia, theater programs began to be issued as periodicals or more often as appendices to almanacs that specialized in culture. New symbols appeared in the contents — professional theaters began to place their logotypes on the programs.

All modern theaters and concert halls include their symbols in the programs, and each establishment has a unique choice of colors in its programs. For example, brochures of the Bolshoi Theater are ivory, the Mariinsky Theater prints light green ones, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theater’s colors are white and blue, etc. While some theaters use the same cover page design for all their performances (as is the case with the Bolshoi Theater or the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater), others design a new thematically related cover for each show.

By the early 20th century, the text in a program had acquired an established form, which is still used in all entertainment institutions. The name of the event is usually highlighted in an unusual font and is placed on the cover page of the theater program. At the bottom of the page is the most important information, which indicates the address and the current year.

Over the title, the name of the theater or concert hall is printed. The spread with the second and third pages features the lists of characters and performers in two columns. This part of the program stays the same for all kinds of entertainment — drama theater, ballet, opera, circus, classical or pop music concert, etc. In case the program should have additional information about the director, the actors or the history of the performance, it is placed after the list of characters.

The last page of the program contains a printer’s imprint, indicating the printing house and the number of copies.